Wärtsilä to cut 600 jobs

JULY 17, 2015 — Wärtsilä is to cut some 600 jobs, about 160 of them in Finland, at its Ship Power business, which it has now renamed Marine Solutions.

The job cuts are part of a realignment in response to the sluggish global marine market situation. The plans will affect personnel in all functions of Wärtsilä Marine Solutions' global operations. A portion of the reductions will be realised through retirements.

Wärtsilä is seeking annual savings in the region of EUR 40 million. The effect of the savings will materialise gradually beginning from the third quarter of 2015, and will take full effect by the end of 2016. The non-recurring costs related to the restructuring measures will be approximately EUR 25-30 million.

"The marine industry has been slow in recovering from the global economic crisis and new shipbuilding contracting is weak," says Jaakko Eskola, President, Marine Solutions, Senior Executive Vice President, Wärtsilä Corporation. "At the same time, the offshore oil & gas industry has been adversely affected by lower oil prices. In addition, there are risks related to vessel owners negotiating extensions to existing delivery contracts. The combined impact of these developments has created a challenging market situation for the entire marine sector.

"These unfortunate capacity adjustments have to be made in this current environment of low demand in order for us to maintain our competitive position in the global market. Despite streamlining the organization, our commitment to our customers remains absolutely solid."